Originally Posted by StirredNotShaken

I can guarantee you that a Diamond member is NOT guaranteed an oceanfront room at the HR Waikiki, because I got an Ewa-facing room this weekend (although it was also NYE).

I typically get an oceanfront or a partial-oceanfront room on a high-floor roughly 75% of the time. In two years of being a Diamond, I have only gotten a DSU to work once - the HR Waikiki is incredibly booked year-round by a large Japanese visitor base.

I'll update the Hyatt Waikiki Centric thread later, as I have a reservation there this weekend.

Originally Posted by Kacee

Interesting. I wonder if they're completely unaware that "waiting until next year" to roll out the red carpet will in many instances be too little, too late, since many of us have already decided to move our focus elsewhere.

I already have five non-Hyatt nights booked for January (San Diego and Mexico City). In both instances, the alternative was approx. 2x the price of the Hyatt.

Originally Posted by jpdx

Quite frankly, SPG options in HNL aren't spectacular either. I've been Hyatt Diamond/SPG Plat for over a decade, and have stayed at each of the SPG properties at least a half dozen times.

The problem with SPG is that there's no guarantee that you'll get a suite or decent room. Unlike Hyatt DSUs (which are confirmed at booking), SPG's Suite Night Awards (SNAs) are applied to your reservation and will be confirmed between 5 and 1 day prior to your stay. In Waikiki, this is a huge gamble, because hotels are frequently sold out and the upgrade doesn't clear.

In theory, Royal Hawaiian, Westin Moana, and Sheraton are all superior to the Hyatt -- with some great rooms in the upgrade pool, and at least in case of the Sheraton, occasional upgrades to spectacular suites 2-3 categories above the standard suites SNAs book into. So if you're lucky to get a good upgrade, the SPG properties will be much better than the Hyatt. However, if the hotels are full, you can end up in awful rooms. We stayed at the Moana over Thanksgiving 2016 and were assigned a cruise ship sized room in the historic (Banyan) building.

As much as people complain about the Hyatt, you're almost guaranteed to receive an oceanfront room, very decent sized by Waikiki standards. I've certainly had much better upgrades at Moana/RH/Sheraton, but if you end up in a standard room there, you will be wishing you'd stayed at the Hyatt.

For me, as long as the Hyatt could be had for sub-$200, it was the clear winner, despite its shortcomings. Now, with base rates well over $200, resort fee not waived and requiring an additional parking charge, a $200 BRG at Sheraton and Moana is mighty appealing.

Originally Posted by Frindle

I'm going to chime in on this as I just made the switch to SPG.

I loved the HR Waikiki. Great location, updated rooms with plenty of plugs, and the staff was always great for me.

Now that I'm booking through SPG, I found my most recent Hawaii trip to be less pleasant. I like the Sheraton lobby, but the room I was in was old and out-dated. Some of the basic TV channels ABC/NBC/CBS type didn't work, and the TV itself was very small. I did like how the resort fee covered self parking, which was a nice change from the HR where I had to pay a resort fee AND parking fee. The one huge thing was there were no plugs except on one side of one of the beds. We were upgraded to a corner partial-ocean view room with a King and Double bed. I had to charge my phone, ipad, macbook, etc across the room instead of on the night stand, next to me because that was the only other plug where I could safely put my electronics.

I'm interested to try the Marriott on an upcoming stay. I like the location and stayed there once, years ago, I believe, and the rooms were decent.

Hyatt definitely seems to have SPG/Marriott beat when it comes to Oahu.

Originally Posted by edgewood49

IMO it's hard to compare the Sheraton to the Hyatt as an equal. By virtue of their brand is a mid range chain and never really an upscale, their location on the beach is fantastic but that building is just beaten to death every year by guest.

The Marriott is the better choice on the "beach" over the Westin and Sheraton ( The Westin has been left a shell of it's former self) Just make sure you get the front tower at the Marriott

Originally Posted by jpdx

I'm not quite sure what you're trying to say in your first paragraph. Why is it hard to compare Hyatt and Sheraton as equal? Having stayed at both numerous times, I certainly don't think it's blindingly obvious that one is better than the other.

I would posit that if the upgrade gods smile on you, the Sheraton is amazing. I have memories of stays in high floor Pualani and Kai suites that beat anything else in Waikiki. Similarly, the Moana and RC have some great suites and rooms, and some people really value the historic feel of the buildings. If I was guaranteed one of the good rooms/suites at the SPG properties, I'd never take another look at the Hyatt. The problem is that there's a good chance of ending up in an undesirable room at the SPG properties, and I'd much rather be in a poor Hyatt room (i.e., not high floor oceanfront, but still reasonably sized and modern) than a poor SPG room (noisy, no view cruise ship cabin).

Originally Posted by josephstern

I'm not really understanding - what does "oceanfront" mean if you have to cross a street from here to get to the beach?

Originally Posted by josephstern

I'm not really understanding - what does "oceanfront" mean if you have to cross a street from here to get to the beach?

Originally Posted by Kacee

There are no buildings between the hotel and the beach, just Kalakaua Avenue. So the rooms that front on Kalakaua are (at least in Hyatt's view) "ocean front." From the high floors, you don't really notice the traffic and the view is spectacular. From the lower floors, the traffic noise is pretty bad.

The Marriott is the same (across the street from the beach), except it has only a handful of rooms that fit this definition of "ocean front." Most of their "ocean view" rooms are on the side and have only a partial view of the water.

Sheraton, by contrast, is right on the beach. (As is HHV.)

Originally Posted by edgewood49

Ok so your saying that a Hyatt is in the same tier group as Sheraton Hotels ? Which is what your saying, my statement was focused around the brand first, specific hotel second.

Originally Posted by edgewood49

But a much differing clientele.

Originally Posted by jpdx

Good point, thanks for reminding me. You're absolutely right; there are some Sheratons that are better than Hyatts. Since we're talking specifically about Sheraton Waikiki and Hyatt Regency Waikiki, it seems a little pointless to worry about hundreds of other hotels. Let's just focus on the two at hand, which each have their strengths and weaknesses, but overall are of a very similar standard.



Once again I am left scratching my head. Are you insinuating that the "clientele" at the Hyatt is better (however defined), or at Sheraton/Marriott/HHV? I've been to Honolulu some 5 dozen times, and if I had to sum up the clientele at all hotels, I'd have to say, 80% Japanese tourists.